45 colt powder choices

[stubshaft]

Used to use Unique (still have 9 pounds of it) but have recently switched to AA#5 because it burns cleaner and someone gave me 16# of it.

[Gray Fox]

I use a slightly less than max recommended load of H110/296 from the Hornady loading manual using both the Lee 255 RNFP and the 300 grainer in both my 24" octagon barrel Rossi 92 and in my wife's 20 incher. Both shoot very nicely at 100 yards. The load is hotter than I care to shoot in my revolvers, though. I've also tried the 8 grains of 231 with the 255 that is our standard revolver load, but it really loses steam at that distance.

Bullet Caster:

I've been through Jonesboro right past the train station many times and my wife and I have shot with the "Doc Holliday's Immortals" SASS club in Griffin several times. Small world we boolit shooters move in.

[Bullet Caster]

Gray Fox,
When you were in Jonesboro, GA, you shoulda stopped in and taken my tour. I did it for 5 years before moving to TN, in '98. The tour company was called Historical and Hysterical Tours. We started out in the train depot and went by Pope Dickson's funeral home 'cause there was an old carriage in the basement that belonged to the VP of the Confederacy. From there we went to the old Confederate cemetary that is laid out like the stars & bars flag. There were about 800 yankees buried there as well--they were buried in a mass grave at the north end of the cemetary. There was the Warren House used for a hospital during the war and I just happened to find a bullet on the ground that had teeth marks in it. You ever heard the expression, "bite the bullet"? That's where the term originated as soldiers had to bite down on soft lead to endure the pain during amputation. The tour would then conclude at the "Green House" with more stories of GWTW. I really enjoyed giving the tour which started out as a 1 hour tour. By the time I re-wrote the script and after much research it turned into a 2 hour tour. Very interesting stuff about Peggy Mitchell. I had one gentleman that was a West Point graduate and he told me he learned more about the Civil War from me than he ever learned at the Point. Go figure. BC

[Daddyfixit]

No pet Trail Boss loads? I thought it was tailor made for the 45?
I picked up a can of it to give a try, what's a good load for 255gr RNFP?

[JohnnyFlake]

No pet Trail Boss loads? I thought it was tailor made for the 45?
I picked up a can of it to give a try, what's a good load for 255gr RNFP?

For what it's worth, I cannot speak from experience, but some old friends of mine and I were talking about a week ago and they have been testing .45 Colt loads with Trail Boss and 250gr RNFP bullets. Sometime this month, I will be loading up some test rounds myself to see what is the most accurate out of my guns. They both suggested to me to start with 5.3gr loads and work up a grain at a time to a max of 5.8gr. Somewhere in between you'll probably come across the best load for your gun. They no longer have a chrony that works so they could not give me velocities but they believe the velocities are in the range of 675 at the low end and 750 at the high end.

[btroj]

Trail boss was designed for large blacko powder era cases fired with smokeless. It was mostly geared towards the cowboy action shooters who wanted lower velocities. It was mostly intended to reduce the chance of a double charge.

Many want a bit more velocity than trail boss is capable of giving. So many per powders have given good results over the years that most of us have settled on a powder and load we like.

[Daddyfixit]

Trail Boss powder looks like little flat doughnuts or washers....but of all the different powders I've used it meters through my Dillion 550 better than anything else. Once set I checked 20 times and they were all exactly 5.3 grs (RCBS 505 scale) so I loaded 12 rounds and checked again, still bang on 5.3grs.

I adjusted up to 5.5gr checked 10 times...all exactly 5.5grs.
I loaded 12 more rounds and rechecked..5.5! Most powders I've used meter good(+or-.2 or so) but not THAT good. So for the heck of it I thru 10 loads in the pan...55 gr exactly
That surprised me a little

Now I'll have to get to the range and check the results

[drklynoon]

I shoot 6.0 gr of trail boss with a 255 gr swc. The speed is around 800-850 fps I haven't shot it over the chrony because I honestly don't much care. The gun just about shoots hole in hole. I love trail boss and may try to load a more stout version later on when I get my BH. The thing that has kept me from this is the load data.

[LVRFAN]

8.0 grains of UNIQUE. EVERYTHING else is a waste of time, money, and powder. If you want more power get a 44 Mag. or a 454. Unique is perfect for the 45 Colt with NORMAL loads. Of course, that's just my opinion!

[USSR]

8.0 grains of UNIQUE. EVERYTHING else is a waste of time, money, and powder. If you want more power get a 44 Mag. or a 454. Unique is perfect for the 45 Colt with NORMAL loads. Of course, that's just my opinion!

Lots of .45 Colt loads that are better than 8.0 grains of Unique, and if your handgun can handle higher than standard .45 Colt loads, then go for it.

Don

[LVRFAN]

Well, start naming those loads Don!

[LVRFAN]

8.0 grains of UNIQUE with a 250 lead bullet gives me right at 1000 fps in my 7.5" Blackhawk and 960 out of my 7.5" Colt SAA- a NORMAL equivalent load to 40 grains of Blackpowder. My short guns are about 100 fps slower. I am pretty sure that it will drop anything that I might want to shoot WITHOUT alot of recoil and muzzle blast AND good accuracy in ALL my 45's. That's MY idea of a good load. Have tried many powders for this round in the past 30 years but none have done as consistantly well as UNIQUE.

[USSR]

Well, start naming those loads Don!

John Linebaugh's 13.0gr of HS-6 is one. And my personal favorite is 18.0gr of 2400. For light loads, 6.0gr of Solo 1000 works well. The point being, there is no ONE load that is the only one to consider, and there is a great pressure space between the .45 Colt standard pressure loads and the Ruger only loads that rival .44 Magnum loads, IF you have a handgun than can safely handle them. I have a S&W 25-5, and I limit myself to pressure levels of no more than 23K psi.

Don

[Wireman134]

Have had good results with 14gr. of BlueDot with the Lee 452-252-SWC @ 1100fps.
This is a "Ruger" load around 22,000 psi. that is safe in my Blackhawk.
7.1gr. W231 @ 870fps. and 6.5gr. Red Dot @ 830fps. are good factory equivalents.

[T-Bird]

Boy, I never got close to 1000fps out of my Ruger Bisley 7.5 with 8.0 gr Unique and a 250ish gr boolet. My velocity was more like 800fps. I got far better accuracy from AA#5 in the Unique applications in all my handguns, when I first started reloading, so when thet 1st # of Unique was used up, I didn't but any more. My replacement AA#5 load would be 10gr #5 and a 250ish boolet. I guess my point is, I agree with Don. Shoot Straight, T-Bird

[Doc.Holliday]

I've put a few rounds of 45 colt loaded with 9.0 grains of Power Pistol; thru both Rossi's, the rifle and Mares leg .
There were no pressure signs at that level and there were no left over kernels.
Accuracy was very good and I nor my friends noticed any blinding muzzle flash with this powder or load.
I will keep on working up a safe accurate load as I think this powder may be the mid burner I'm looking for.
If any of you are also working with this powder and caliber please share your experiences.
Doc

[Reload3006]

There are lots of cartridges that arent going to be race horses no matter what you use. So. with that I look first to see what the load manuals recommend. Do I have that on hand? No. Ok what do I have on hand? Is there a load for that? yes try it does it work? is it a good load? keep using it. I Use a lot of IMR SR4756 because I have 20lbs of it and for the most part it works very very well. Is there better choices depends on the criteria of the question. for me I use or try to use what I have. I dont mind adding another powder to my collection if I need to. I have in the past and will again.

[Jodi]

i know i am really late to this thread (hasn't been active in over 1.5years) but i wanted to say thank you to everyone here, i am new to reloading and this is the best information i have found on the net in a while.

[justing]

Along with the Unique load of 8.5 gr, I like 7.5 gr of 231.

that's my top two choices

[jlchucker]

Doc,

18.0 grains of 2400 is in the same power range as your 21 grains of IMR4227 load, and there are no kernels to contend with.

Don

2400 is good powder in 45 Colt, and it's my go-to powder for 44 magnum rifle loads. Unique works good in both calibers, too. Those kernels come out pretty easy when you poke a patch through your barrel--or are we talking about "kernel" as a military rank?